THE GREEN MAN

A long time ago in a place far from here, there was a wonderful world, green and lush with rolling hills and blue skies as far as the eye could see. On this planet lived only happy farmers and their families. They worked the fields using great machines and were rewarded with bountiful harvests, fruits and vegetables that tasted unlike anything else. The soil was so fertile here that it took little work to grow these crops and automated farming machinery did most of it, leaving the farmers with a great deal of free time where they could live out their lives, joyous and carefree. They were happy, their children were happy, their animals were happy, all was well.

That was until one day a man inspecting one of the machines noticed one of the vegetables had turned black. He dismissed it as odd, but not uncommon. Then it became widespread, within weeks whole fields worth of crops throughout the world were turning black and inedible, then it spread across plant species, infecting every fruit, vegetable and grain that they grew. Livestock began to get sick and die, the machines ceased operating, within two months the once paradise was now in the midst of a catastrophic crisis, the people were starving. They had no access to help away from their planet. They descended into utter hopelessness.

One day, as the skeletal population of a small community were lying around attempting to stay conscious through the unrelenting hunger, a figure was spotted walking through a barren field towards them. As he approached they could see he was wearing a long green hooded cloak and was carrying an old-fashioned farmer’s scythe over his shoulder, unlike everyone else he seemed exceptionally healthy and well nourished. When he reached them he looked up from under his hood, smiled a warm smile and waved at them excitedly, the sleeve of his robe flopping about. “Greetings, all!” he exclaimed, the people sat dumbfounded at this display, who was this man and what was there to be so pleased about?

“Who are you?”, a nearby woman asked. “A friend” he replied “and I’m here to help the good people of these lands”. He smiled, bowed, turned and began walking back through the barren field again, but as he did the crops began to rapidly grow, sprouting back out of the ground at unnatural speeds. Within seconds the vegetation was fully grown and ripe, the people stumbled toward the field and began eating from it, they were in awe of this man and his power, they shed tears of joy. A woman looked up from the food she was eating and mouthed the words “Thank you” at the distant cloaked man, he responded by placing his hand on his heart.

Over the coming weeks, word spread of the “Green Man” and people would travel from all over the world to see him and hear his teachings, the people, now fed and nourished would sit around in their thousands to hear the strange man speak. They were enthralled by his warmth and were awestruck at how lucky they were that he had appeared when he did. He took on a mythical quality, the saviour who came in their time of need and saved their world from utter destruction. He spoke about nature, about how nature was the most important force in the universe and how it loves everyone and everything. He spoke of it as a grandfather and how all living beings were it’s grandchildren. “We are no different from the plants we grow, from the animals we eat” he’d exclaim at the endless crowds of people, “We are all a part of nature and we are all one and the same”. During one of his many lessons he spoke about the previous drought, “Nature is our Grandfather, and he loves us so much! He wants to be so close to his Grandchildren!”, tears began welling in his eyes and his voice began to crack, he pointed to the automated farming machines in the distance, “When you use these mere THINGS, he cannot feel our love toward him, and he starts to become distant, that is why you felt his absence as you did, until I arrived. He sent me to show his grandchildren how much they hurt him.” Loud murmurs and sobs were heard throughout the crowd. “I will not always be here, and someday you must fend for yourselves, treat the grandfather with the love he deserves and he will give it back in spades, you must become ONE with the ground you work and the grain you reap, until then you are only taking advantage of him and he feels that, children, he truly feels it”.

THE CADAVER

Following the events of the Horus Heresy, the 14th legion along with their primarch Mortarion, fled into the Eye of Terror. Within the madness of the warp they established their home, the “Plague Planet” from which they began concocting their plans to infect the universe with Nurgle’s many “blessings”. Having been horrifically mutated by the warp and the unholy pact made by Mortarion and his dark god, the Death Guard legion and it’s many space marines were now mere shells of their former selves, where before they were a proud legion of Astartes, now they were only single minded puppets of the Plague God. The many distinct warbands that composed the Death Guard were given missions to fulfil upon leaving the Eye of Terror in an effort to claim the galaxy for Nurgle. The combined successes of these endeavours would surely bring about the spread of Nurgle’s corruption throughout the universe. One such warband, “The Quiet Rot” were given an especially esoteric duty to complete.

The Quiet Rot was lead by the plague lord Molthis Peste along with his most trusted champion, Thraxis Phage. Peste captained the immense plague ship known as “The Cadaver” from which his warband traveled on their quest throughout the galaxy. His mission was given to him by his primarch, to locate the “Green Man” and return him to the Eye of Terror where he can serve by Mortarion’s side in the eternal war for Nurgle. Peste was greatly displeased with this assignment, though he would not let it be known openly. It seemed to be a petty duty, not befitting of a warband with the strength and dedication of The Quiet Rot, while others were attacking Imperial colonies and spreading the Grandfather’s gifts wherever they went, his warband would be tracking down a non-existent character from a children’s story.

The story of “The Green Man” was an ancient folktale, stretching back many thousands of years, before the Imperium. It’s exact age is unknown but it was a legend shared across many settlements during humanity’s early exploration and colonisation of the galaxy. It was mostly popular among the children of farmers on the innumerable agri-worlds that grew and exported important goods throughout the galaxy. After the heresy, many parallels between the events within the story and the chaos god Nurgle were drawn and the story was indicted as having potential origins in chaos worship. All written records of the story were tracked down and purged by the Inquisition, any agri world denizens caught sharing or referencing the events of the story were branded as heretics and punished accordingly, in the thousands of years since the heresy the story had become mostly forgotten amongst the citizens of the Imperium.

Mortarion had seen visions on the Plague Planet that informed him that not only was the mythic “Green Man” based on true events, but he was still alive somewhere in the galaxy. Believing him to be a potential great sorceror of Nurgle, his ancient knowledge would be invaluable in his eternal war. Mortarion entrusted the task of locating this legendary figure to The Quiet Rot warband, and the Cadaver set forth from the Eye of Terror to begin it’s long pilgrimage to find the green man.

It took many thousands of years for their destination to be found, finding a mythical figure is not a simple task. The Cadaver landed on countless planets, tracking down innumerable leads, raiding incalculable numbers of archives and slaughtering endless people of the Imperium to find any information as to the origin of the story. After countless centuries of this crusade they had finally found an ancient account of the story that made reference to spatial coordinates to where it had
possibly taken place. With the end in sight, Molthis Peste ordered the hulking rot of the Plague Ship into an unmapped section of space, lost since the Age of Strife. Upon arriving, they discovered a solitary planet and prepared a landing party from the Cadaver to explore.

The surface of the planet was brown and barren, it’s atmosphere comprised of a thick green miasma. The land was shrouded in a perpetual twilight. All around, large, twisted, pulsating plants moved to and fro. Every surface was covered in thick layers of unknown liquids. It had been thousands of years since the Quiet Rot had left the Plague Planet through the Eye of Terror and on this planet they felt almost like they were home. “This has to be where he is” Peste gurgled under his helmet. “We will search every inch of this world for the man, when we find him, we are victorious and we will return to Mortarion as his greatest champions”. They set forth, but it did not take long before they spied a figure moving through the thick clouds of pestilence.

THE MEETING

The figure moved toward the mass of plague marines unafraid, when he approached they could see a human man in a filthy green cloak, filled with holes and stained with unknowable fluids. In his hand he held a great rusted scythe, gleaming with vile putrescence. Beneath the hood of the hunched figure only a mouth leaking blood and mucus was visible. He smiled and waved his hand “Greetings, all” he exclaimed in a cold hiss, “I’ve been waiting for you for millennia”. Molthis Peste approached him, his guttural voice reverberating inside his rotted armour “Are you the green man we seek?”. The cloaked man smiled, bile running down his chin “I was called that by the souls who live on this planet, yes, but you can call me Pathogenes”. Peste stepped forward in an authoritative manner “Then you must come with us, our Primarch desires an audience with you”. Pathogenes retorts: “And who is your Primarch to me? What authority does he have to take me from the pleasant home I’ve built here?” Peste stands bewildered, if it were not his mission to take this man to Mortarion alive he would have killed him then and there for this disrespect. “My Primarch Mortarion is the closest any mortal-born has ever been to the plague god, he is the ultimate authority in the universe on matters relating to Nurgle”. Pathogenes heartily chuckled, “In my dreams I have seen the one who would become the ultimate champion of the Grandfather, and you look nothing like him, and this Mortarion certainly does not either….”, the cloaked man then becomes stone faced and squints his eyes through the cloud of noxious gasses toward the gathering of plague marines, he points at Thraxis Phage, the second in command of the Quiet Rot and speaks: “…but you, I have seen YOU in my dreams, could it be? yes, yes, I must speak with you in private at once”. “I have had enough of this” Peste shouts, “You will return with us to the Cadaver at once.” Pathogenes shakes his head “If you allow me to speak with this one here I will go with you wherever you want, but until then I would die before I set foot off this world”. Peste looks around. He reluctantly agrees and motions for Thraxis Phage to follow the strange man.

Phage follows the Green Man through the thick gasses until they reach a tangle of wet, leathery flesh-branches forming a cave. Pathogenes warmly invites the large plague marine inside. “What is this about?” Phage inquires. The cloaked figure turned around and walks toward him using his great scythe like a cane “Many millennia ago I was gifted visions from the grandfather, I saw this world, he showed me his will for it to become his great temple and I his prophet. You, my friend, I envisioned would be his eternal champion. You see, he chose you all that time ago. Together we will spread the Grandfather’s blessings throughout the universe, that is our ultimate destiny”. Phage replied: “Our Primarch Mortarion has been chosen by Nurgle to fulfil his will, not me, not you”. Pathogenes shakes his head like a frustrated parent “Mortarion as you call him has no interest in furthering the will of the Grandfather if said will does not involve fighting his father’s empire, his motives are purely self interested, the grandfather is just a tool to him and there is no greater affront to the nature of reality.”

THE RANCID CABAL

Returning to the landing party after his meeting with the Green Man, Thraxis Phage informs his leader, Molthis Peste, that there is a great deal to be learned from this world and that it’s secrets would be invaluable to Mortarion’s cause. He convinces Peste to stay on the strange planet for a month, then Pathogenes would agree to return with them to the Eye of Terror. Peste reluctantly agrees. During this time Pathogenes would become close with Phage, leading him throughout the great sights of his world. They would wade knee-deep in the great lakes of bile, the enourmous trees of flesh emerging from the surface, made from the undying bodies of the planets former inhabitants, screaming and crying. “They are one with the soil they loved” the prophet would remark, picking dark, shiny, semi-translucent sacs from the trees and biting into them, their vile contents bursting from all sides. Looking to the endless flesh-forests he’d smile “For there to be no separation of life is truly the ultimate goal of the grandfather, to remove the arbitrary lines between nature, man, beast, virus, bacterium, that my friend, is paradise.” He would elaborate his philosophy to Phage further at every chance he could get: “All these machines, vehicles, medicines, vaccines are created to separate us further from our Grandfather. Someday, when his plan for reality is fulfilled, all worlds will be like this one, and only then will our duties be accomplished and we too can be the last to join the great collective, where all life no matter how big or small, is one.” His face turns grim and he looks toward his new acolyte “And all those who stand between us and the collective must be destroyed, that includes your leader, the one called Molthis Peste, all those who seek to prevent the Grandfather’s paradise from coming to fruition must be killed before their souls can merge with the collective, for that is the greatest price to pay.”

Pathogenes started giving sermons to the warband on the planet as a whole and slowly they began to fall under his spell and had begun referring to him as the “Great Prophet of Nurgle”. In the following weeks, Peste began demanding they leave the planet, but most of The Quiet Rot had become enthralled by the prophet. Molthis Peste and a small contingent of those still loyal to Mortarion within the warband formed and attempted to capture the prophet by force, this plan was swiftly intercepted by the members of the warband newly loyal to Pathogenes who stepped in and fought back until Peste and all of his followers were killed. Thraxis Phage became the new leader of the warband and renamed it to “The Rancid Cabal”. He took control of the Cadaver and awaited instructions from the Prophet as to how to carry out their plan.

Many years had gone by, according to the orbiting Cadaver’s onboard computer it was currently the 41st Millennium. Thraxis Phage joined his Prophet in the great bile lake as he did every day to bear witness to his wisdom and to sample the fruits of the great flesh trees. On this day the Prophet said: “I have wonderful news, I have received a new dream from the grandfather, he told me the name of the system that is destined to become the beginning point of the collective”. Phage stopped walking.

“What is it’s name, Prophet?” he asked. Pathogenes took a bite from the pus filled sac, lifted his head toward the stars, barely visible through the thick clouds of rot and smiled.

“Tiberia”.